“You’re wearing a track in the carpet,” Bryce commented as he fixed his hair.

“I thought I told you to go out,” Dirk snapped. “This is a private meeting.” There was no way he was calling this dinner a date.

“A meeting? Right. Complete with a two hundred dollar bottle of champagne and the finest steaks money can buy. I think you’ll find Jon has simpler tastes.”

“I ordered those for me. I don’t care what Jon likes or doesn’t like. He’ll have what I’m having.”

Bryce’s eyes narrowed. “If you think like that, then why the hell are you going through this farce? You’ve no intention of claiming the man.”

“You said it yourself. My dragon’s in a snit with me. When he scents Jon, he’ll come back and we can get the hell out of this town.”

“Leaving Jon behind.” Bruce snatched up his jacket. “You really are the epitome of your kind. Rude, arrogant, and thorough bastards, the lot of you. I seriously think it’s time I started looking for new employment.”

“You mean you’d take him as a mate?” Dirk scoffed. “You wolves are more elitist than dragons.”

“I’d take him in a heartbeat if he were mine.” Bryce stalked over and poked Dirk hard in the chest, reminding him he was still bruised from before. “Unlike dragons who think their shit don’t stink and anyone from any other species is beneath them, wolves know how precious a true mate is. A gift from the fates. The one person created just for them to be a perfect companion and lover in every way. I would be over the moon if Jon were mine.”

“Yeah, well, that just goes to show you don’t have standards. Poke me again and I’ll fire your ass.”

“You don’t have to fire me,” Bryce’s finger bore a hole in his chest, pushing Dirk back. “I quit. Anyone who’d use their mate for personal gain is nothing more than a stupid asshole, and you, my friend, have just leaped to the top of the heap.” Dropping his jacket, Bryce stormed into his room, and Dirk heard drawers opening and slamming shut. A few minutes later, he came back into the room, his suitcase trundling behind him. Jacket slung over his shoulder, Bryce grabbed his wallet and keys, purposefully leaving behind the hotel key card. If looks could kill, Dirk would have been a pile of ash on the floor but Bryce didn’t say another word as he wrenched open the door.

To find Jon standing on the other side of it, his hand raised as if he was going to knock. His eyebrows rose as he noticed Bryce’s case. “Have I come at a bad time?”

“Nothing, I can’t handle,” Bryce snapped. “You’ve still got my number, right?”

Jon nodded.

“Call me tomorrow.” Bryce marched toward the elevator, his suitcase rattling behind him.

“I can come back, if you’ve got things to do?” Dirk realized Jon was talking to him and shook his head.

“No. I promised you dinner. Come in. It’ll be here momentarily.” Dirk was still shocked at Bryce’s defection. He knew he wasn’t the most caring of bosses, but Bryce had been more than his PA. Dirk considered him one of his truest friends and with him and Raoul both supportive of Jon, there was a niggle in the back of his brain that suggested he might be about to make an epic mistake.

“I have some preliminary findings about your case,” Jon said quietly and Dirk realized he was holding his briefcase like a shield. “Did you want to look over them now, or wait until after dinner?”

“Now is fine,” Dirk indicated the coffee table. His breath caught as Jon moved past him. Jon had clearly come straight from the office. His pale lavender shirt was clean and pressed, but the crease in his black pants suggested he’d been in them all day. For a moment, Dirk longed to pull the man into his arms and bury his nose in his mate’s neck, but the bulge in Jon’s pants held him back. He’d never been with a man and he had no intention of starting now, no matter how good Jon smelled. When Jon sat on the couch and pulled some papers from his case, Dirk pulled over one of the chairs from the small dining table and sat opposite him.

/~/~/~/~/

So that’s how it’s going to be, is it? Jon had given himself a stern talking to that lasted all the way from his office to the hotel. He was still muttering to himself when he arrived at Dirk’s suite. Seeing Bryce leave in such an angry fashion blew his cool a bit, but Jon had come to the dinner with the firm expectation he was going to get hurt. Oh, not physically. Even if Dirk’s dragon made what would probably be a spectacular appearance, he would never physically hurt him. His heart on the other hand; that was going to take a beating, and even though he’d only been in his mate’s presence two minutes, it was already aching.

“I have traced your missing money,” he said, pulling out his papers. “It’s being diverted into two off-shore accounts; one in Russia and one in Germany.”

“Who’s behind this? How are they doing this?”

Even without a dragon presence you’re pushy. Jon kept his focus on the papers in front of him. He could barely sense the animal side of his mate, although he knew he was there, which was a relief. “The who I can’t tell you yet; not without more investigating. The how is simple enough. Someone altered the code in your investment program. Every time money was paid back into your investment accounts a portion of that money was diverted at exactly the same time, depositing it into one of the two off-shore accounts instead.” Jon inhaled and looked up, meeting Dirk’s eyes. “It was an inside job.”

“You mean someone who works for me is doing this?” Dirk’s anger surged but without his dragon behind him, all he was giving himself was heartburn. “Someone in my own company is betraying me?”

“Someone with coding knowledge and access to the backend of your investment program. I’ve already checked your front end. There is no way anyone can tamper with the coding from there. Which means, yes, someone who has security clearance in your firm inserted this piece of rogue code into the fabric of the program itself.”

“Can’t you trace which computer was used to do it?”

“I can, but that’s not going to tell you much.” Jon frowned. Looking at his notes was easier than confronting Dirk’s lack of dragon status. His own dog was pining as though searching for an animal half that just wasn’t there. “Your security surrounding your investment program is mediocre at best. It only takes one person to have left their password written down somewhere, or perhaps someone didn’t log off and went for a dinner break and you could be accusing the wrong person. Unless you have cameras in your offices?”

“No. No, I don’t.” Jon didn’t think he would. From what he’d learned about Dirk’s company, the big man, his father, and everyone who ran the company before him all thought they were invincible. “But you believe that someone in my IT office is responsible?”

“Again, not necessarily. I am running the resumes from your staff through my own analytics program now, back at the office. While one of your IT people would be the most obvious choice, anyone with a knowledge of coding could have done this. I’d say you are looking at a group of people responsible. Not just an individual.”

“Why would they do this?” Dirk hung his head in his hands. Jon heard a knock at the door and as Dirk didn’t move, he got up and answered it. It was dinner. Jon let the waiters in, making sure he stood between the wait staff and his mate. Remembering to tip the staff as they left he shut the door firmly on their curious glances. The smell of the food was causing Jon’s stomach to protest. It’d been a long time since lunch.

Walking over, he gently rested his hand on Dirk’s shoulder. It was only meant to be a comforting gesture, but he felt his heart spasm sharply when the man flinched. He quickly removed his hand and resisted the urge to wrap his arms around his own waist. Fuck, this is killing me. Can’t he tell I just want to help him? “Why don’t you get something to eat? Problem solving is always easier on a full stomach,” Jon suggested gently. He promised himself he wouldn’t let his hurt show; or his need for the massive man.

“I’m not hungry.” Dirk raised his head and Jon could see he was close to tears. “I want you to go. The only reason I asked you to dinner was because I thought my dragon would come back. But he hasn’t, so you’re no use to me. I want you to walk out that door and I never want to see your face again.”

A million questions sprung to mind; the loudest of all being “why?” But as much as it killed him to leave his mate alone, it was not in Jon’s nature to push. “If that’s what you want,” he said softly. Quickly gathering his papers, Jon stuffed them in his briefcase. He wanted to ask if he should continue the investigation; he wanted to know who his contact would be now Bryce had clearly quit his job. But Dirk was clearly not in the mood to give out any answers.

His feet dragging, Jon made it to the door, but still he hesitated, his hand on the door knob. Surely, Dirk felt the mating pull as much as he did? No shifter in existence could resist the lure of a mate. But apparently dragons could because Dirk said nothing as he quietly let himself out of the suite.

Outside by the elevator, Jon pressed the button before hastily wiping the dampness from his face. His poor animal half was howling, begging to be allowed to go back, and as much as that’s what Jon wanted as well, he wouldn’t go against his mate’s wishes. My mate. That’s the biggest cosmic joke I’ve ever heard.

As he waited for the elevator, Jon thought back over the few things he knew about his mate. He didn’t have much to go on, but some things were abundantly clear. His mate was the tall, wide shouldered, handsome faced type of man Jon could see himself falling for.

But Dirk’s personality was hardly lovable. If anything, the man was as cold as his dragon burned hot. Even without his dragon spirit, Dirk still expected people to follow his commands, which is probably why Bryce quit.

“And yet you, my old friend, would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he’d asked,” Jon muttered, patting his chest lightly. He’d have to let his dog run free when he got back to his house. Well, not free, otherwise his doggy half would traipse across the city, right back to the hotel. And passing himself of as a service dog with no accompanying human wasn’t easy. Jon knew that from experience. But he’d make sure his doors and windows were firmly bolted and then spend the evening in his dog form, resting on the rug in the living room. If he howled a time or two, he didn’t have neighbors, so it’s not as though anyone would notice.

There were very few times Jon wished he were any other sort of shifter, but this was one of them. If he’d been wolf, he would have fought Dirk and demanded their mating. A bear would have bitten Dirk the first chance he got and to hell with the consequences. If he’d been a big cat, he’d have either locked Dirk away until the man saw sense, or slinked around him as though he was in heat, until Dirk was overcome with lust.

“That’s not our thing, is it buddy?” Jon chuckled as he wondered why the elevator was taking so long. Dog shifters were rare, possibly because they didn’t find mates among themselves. Jon had always known his mate would be another type of paranormal. Of course, he’d never imagined it would be a dragon. “And now we know and yet we don’t have any special power or strength to fight for him. We’ve just got to be patient, buddy and hope like hell Dirk’s dragon comes back soon.”

A ding notified him the elevator had arrived. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped on it, refusing to look at the closed door of Dirk’s suite. Fates, keep him well, please.